As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Customers ordering information handling systems often require that information handling systems arrive with pre-installed software. Such software often allows the information handling systems to be compatible with a customer's existing computers, programs and network.
Software is typically installed on the information handling system at the factory before it is shipped to the customer. Software installation typically includes three phases. First, an image is created that includes all of the hardware diagnosis instructions and software installation instructions for a particular information handling system. Second, the software is installed on the information handling system. This is also known as the “burn” phase. Third, the information handling system is checked to verify that all of the software was correctly installed.
One type of information handling system is a modular information handling system such as a multi-blade server. Multi-blade servers typically include midplanes for attaching multiple blades (sometimes referred to as “bricks”). Midplanes allow the multiple blades to be interconnected in a single chassis and to share a common power source. Each blade typically includes a processor and memory and may store data, process information, or perform particular tasks.
Because each blade may function as an independent entity, a server may include blades that each perform different tasks. The varied tasks of each blade typically require different software applications to be installed on each blade. Therefore, a modular information handling system such as a blade server with multiple blades present particular challenges in efficiently and reliably managing and verifying the installation of software applications onto each blade.
Existing methods for managing and verifying the installation of software onto modular information handling systems involved manually scanning bar codes for each blade. Such systems are inefficient as they require operator involvement for managing and verifying the installation of software onto each blade. Although current verification process may determine that software has been installed on a particular component, these systems cannot efficiently determine that the entire modular information handling system has been successfully installed with software. Having to manually verify that all of the components of a modular information handling system have been properly installed increases the overall amount of time and operator involvement necessary to verify the installation of software on a modular information handling system.